Foley High head coach Deric Scott just shook his head recently when asked how different Auburn’s recruiting has been so far under new coach Hugh Freeze.

“It’s 100 to 1 change,” he said. “You can quote me on that.”

Scott coaches one of Alabama’s top rising seniors in wide receiver Perry Thompson.

Thompson has been committed to rival Alabama since last summer but has visited Auburn on numerous occasions since Freeze replaced Bryan Harsin in November and said this week he plans to visit again. Ditto with two other longtime Gulf Coast Crimson Tide commits in Saraland’s Ryan Williams and Mobile Christian’s Sterling Dixon.

“He has brought more excitement there,” Dixon told AL.com recently about Freeze’s arrival. “A lot of people want to go see Auburn now. I feel like it is a different atmosphere there now. The coaches around him are great. Everyone is on the same page. They treat players and recruits like family.”

There is no indication at this point that any of those three Alabama commits will flip to the Tigers. However, just the fact that they are consistently visiting the campus seems to mark a vast difference from the way many recruits reacted for the previous two years.

“It’s totally different,” Scott said. “What coach Freeze is about and what he brings to the table is totally different than the prior administration. He has a magnetic personality. He is out recruiting for sure.”

Auburn currently has five high school commitments in its Class of 2024, including three in-state stars – Andalusia running back J’Marion Burnette, Moody defensive back A’Mon Lane and Anniston defensive back Jayden Lewis. Each of those are top 20 recruits from the state this cycle. Lane committed to the previous staff.

Freeze successfully flipped Highland Home’s Keldric Faulk from Florida State in the 2023 class and could use that one big commitment from a blue chip recruit this cycle. Could that be Central-Phenix City 5-star wide receiver Cameron Coleman?

Time will tell but already, in just his first full cycle recruiting class, Freeze is changing the perception of Auburn in many recruits’ minds.

“I would say it’s night and day, but it’s almost like black hole and day. It is that different,” said AuburnUndercover.com’s Jason Caldwell recently on Sports Talk 99.5 in Mobile. “It was pouring down rain (at A-Day). It was a nasty Saturday, and there were some guys who couldn’t make it. Ryan Williams was unable to get there and a few others, but there were a lot of really good players on hand for what they knew was going to be a not-very-much-to-see football game. They still came up. It’s crazy how different it has been.”

There is plenty of work to do obviously. On Wednesday, Vestavia Hills’ EDGE Jordan Ross – the top senior prospect in the state, according to 247 Sports – listed his top eight and Auburn was not included.

Still, in talking with high school coaches and recruits, the progress under Freeze already is significant.

“The staff did what they could do, but if your head coach doesn’t recruit then it’s impossible,” Caldwell said of Harsin’s tenure. “This shows you what happens when your head coach does get out there, and he’s recruiting at a high level. Kids react well. We’ve talked to recruit after recruit and they all say that, ‘no head coach is recruiting me harder than Hugh Freeze is.’ That is what it takes, and that wasn’t happening. When you do those things, it makes a dramatic impact.”